Scarlett Johansson has signed up to play Janet Leigh in a new film about horror classic Psycho.
The actress will appear in director Sacha Gervasi’s Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho. James D’Arcy will star opposite as actor Anthony Perkins.
Based on Stephen Rebello’s non-fiction account of the story, the film charts Hitchcock’s struggle to fund his 1960 horror movie, for which he was met at the time with ridicule and disapproval.
The film has been in the works for several years, initially developed at Paramount by Glee creator Ryan Murphy before being passed to Gervasi. Anthony Hopkins will play Hitchcock, with Helen Mirren cast as his wife Alma Reville.
Sources say that the film has drawn comparisons to My Week With Marilyn, and that the role of Janet Leigh could lead to the same awards consideration for Johansson that the Marilyn Monroe role did for Michelle Williams.
Johannson recently starred in Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo.
by Helena Bryanlith
